Whenever the tale of Standup Comedy in India is recited, one of the most eminent names that comes up is Vir Das. Vir paved his way into comedy with various trial-and-error fields. He started with a gig, but spent a few months as VJ, Vir was sure that he wanted to explore comedy. In a candid conversation with mid-day's Sit With Hitlist, Vir details how he started with comedy and what he does when his jokes don't land.

Vir talks about what he does when his jokes don't land as expected, "When it is not going well, you will physically feel it. I don't sweat if it's going well. If you see me sweating on stage, it's not going well. You could be under any amount of hot lights. I don't sweat. But when I'm bombing, I can feel it happening. You have to address that it's not going well. The stupidest thing comics do, especially when they're young, is like joke bombs, and they're like, yeah. And then they just keep going. And then the audience is like, 'No, no, bro. You didn't get a laugh there.' So let's not pretend. And then you've lost that connection. So if a joke doesn't work, I'll just be like, oh, you guys didn't like that one. And then maybe I'll make fun of that."

How does Vir handle an opening set that bombed?

Further shares, "Sometimes I'll go up and I try and use a new comic to open for me every time. So at the Habitat, if you come and see me on a trial show, there's some kid who's been doing, you know, he's got five minutes. Sometimes they overdo it, but never mind. But then, going in front of my crowd is terrifying for a child. Like for a young comic. 50% of the time, they bomb hard. So you see this poor guy, he's 25. I want them to build and get applause, but that doesn't happen. So then, I have to tell the audience that they aren't ready for my jokes yet. I do crowd work."